In the summer of 2006, my brother got this CD at the Virgin Megastore in London because he thought the band name was funny. Of all the ways he makes questionable decisions, this one worked out. This album is fun. It’s a little tougher to relate to these lyrics as a 36 year old dad, but there’s a palpable energy and…sincerity (?) in these songs about innocent mischief and angsty frustration with the system and being young and horned up and just wanting to get some. This was a fun ride to 2006, back when I very much COULD relate.

Brought back lots of college memories. Fun juxtaposition of heavy lyrics and breezy, upbeat music on lots of songs. Some songs come across as a little too smug and self-important. 4/5.

I remember hearing NPR’s Robin Hilton talk about how he would play this for his newborn son every single morning for the first 2 or 3 years of his life, hoping he would absorb the beauty humans are capable of when they’re at their very best. I think he might have been right. 5/5

I feel like I should be working on an old Trans Am in a neighbor’s garage and it’s 1974 and I have a mullet. Lead guitarist must have developed some wild scoliosis carrying this album.

Ah, Jerry. Making people separate the artist from the art decades before R Kelly and Diddy. Absolute piece of shit, but that’s a hell of a show. 1 star human, 5 star show.

This is fine.

I can understand why it’s great and revolutionary and all that, but it’s not my thing. Also, the Nico songs sound like something straight out of SNL.

Miles Fucking Davis, ladies and gentlemen. I want to give a 17 minute standing ovation but I’m walking my dog in the freezing cold and the neighbors might call the cops.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. But please make sure “Lead a Normal Life” is the music for the closing credits of my eventual biopic.

This is beyond impressive on its own, and then finds itself on a whole different planet when you compare it to the other stuff that was popular in the early 60s. I could listen on repeat for weeks. Tight, crisp, and doesn’t miss a beat. JB was a pro. So many of these are objectively 5 star albums (some might even call them the 1001 greatest ever), so I’ll be a punk and split hairs. The recording quality itself sounds a little hollow at times and seems to fade in and out, especially towards the end. So, like, 4.49999/5.

One on hand, it’s cool because this is the kind of stuff I’d never seek out on my own, much less listen to the whole album. On the other, I feel like it’s 2 am and my college roommate is asleep and I see his phone open to some voice memos of seedlings of songs that he and his band have been toying around with and I take a listen and shrug and think, “Eh, not bad. Good for him.” I don’t hate it, but I definitely don’t love it. These feel like the beginnings of song ideas, and the rug gets pulled out from under my feet right as I start feeling invested. But maybe I just don’t get it. This is probably a dream for folks with ADD.

The woman can sing, but what in the Saved By The Bell are these instrumentals? It’s been interesting how some of these albums hold up and feel literally timeless. This one…does not. But “I Can’t Stand the Rain” is an absolute 11/10 banger.

Loved it. I’ll be back to spend more time with this one. There’s something about a lot of old school hip hop that can come across as corny, but Public Enemy avoids those pitfalls entirely.

🤘🏻😝🤘🏻 This is not my…jam. Lol get it? But I bet I could mow my lawn about twice as fast if I was listening to this.

I was fully prepared to begrudgingly listen, punch in a 2 star review, and move on to the next one. But I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would? I definitely didn’t hate it.

There would be plenty of moments when I’m not at all in the mood for this, but this was not one of those moments. Caught myself pretty early on bobbing my head, drumming my fingers, and thinking “hell yeah, Tom Tom Club.” It’s pretty wild that this thing came out in 1981. I feel like it could come out today and slide right in to the new releases pile.

I liked this. A little rock. A little blues. A ballad or two. The variety of the album kept this from getting stale at any point. But I couldn’t get past how he sounds like Rod Stewart.

I realize this is weird, but a bucket list trip of mine is going to Clarksdale, MS, staying in a dumpy motel (motel with an M), eating deep fried everything, and spending a few hours each day in a blues joint. I’m such a sucker for this stuff, and Muddy Waters does it better than most. This is active listening foreground music or mood setting stuff in the background. It picks you up or lets you wallow in your particular sadness. It’s raw and it’s gritty and I wish I could give it 8 stars.

In the summer of 2006, my brother got this CD at the Virgin Megastore in London because he thought the band name was funny. Of all the ways he makes questionable decisions, this one worked out. This album is fun. It’s a little tougher to relate to these lyrics as a 36 year old dad, but there’s a palpable energy and…sincerity (?) in these songs about innocent mischief and angsty frustration with the system and being young and horned up and just wanting to get some. This was a fun ride to 2006, back when I very much COULD relate.

Maybe the greatest highway driving album ever? Propulsive bass lines, steady drums, top shelf lead guitar, and fucking Bono? I mean, come on. It’s so easy to hate on U2. They’ve essentially become a caricature of a dramatic arena rock band (the lead guitarist goes by “The Edge,” for Pete’s sake), but they’re just so damn good. I really didn’t want to give this 5 stars, but it feels like giving anything less would be more about me needing to feel cool than it is about them and this thing that is objectively a masterpiece.

This thing is such a ride. Musical styles all over the place. Seems like there’s a literary or pop culture reference in every line. This is a dense, heavy listen, and I’m not too proud to admit that a lot of it goes over my head. And yet, while playing 4D chess, Kendrick has a way of making you bob your head and keep coming back for more in hopes that maybe you’ll peel back another layer on the next listen. Plenty of iconic names blazed the hip hop trail, but I don’t think anyone has ever done it better than K.Dot. This one proved GKMC wasn’t a flash in the pan.

I’m glad we live in a world where different people come to music for different purposes, but the purpose this album serves (or at least seems to serve) isn’t for me. I won’t say it’s “bad,” but I can confidently say I will not be returning voluntarily.

Hell yeah, brother. This was fun. It’s like they all say…I don’t always listen to Afro-Cuban jazz fusion, but when I do, I prefer that it’s the sweet sweet sounds of Machito.

You’d think some weird postmodern art rock would be something I’d be at least moderately into. I really want to like Talking Heads. I’ve tried to like Talking Heads. But I just…don’t? There are some great lines/lyrics, but I can’t get past the vocals. Don’t love it. Don’t hate it. The quintessence of meh.

This is the kind of “mostly sterile but also just gritty enough to feel gritty” kind of stuff that would fit right in to the soundtrack of a Tony Hawk video game. I liked it just fine, but, fully embracing my naivety, I couldn’t tell you what separates this from any other alternative stuff coming out of the early 90s. IF they were the ones to pioneer this sound that would become pretty ubiquitous, then I guess that’s cool.

This is just comically British. I don’t want to dip into any B-word blasphemy lightly, but it sounds like The Beatles (but 30 years too late and without the cultural influence).

My dad, with his uninspired music taste, really liked The Eagles, and my dad’s cooler friend Jim was really into Steely Dan. In retrospect, this makes a lot of sense. I’ve never listened to a ton of Steely Dan, but it reminds me of a superior version of The Eagles. I like it.

I’m not usually in the mood for this type of thing, but this would be a perfectly acceptable option for those times when I am. Vocals are Steven Tyler-esque without the Aerosmithiniess of it all.